Wednesday 7 September 2016 11:33, UK
Paul McGinley welcomes Rory McIlroy's first PGA Tour win of the season at the Deutsche Bank Championship, and feels Darren Clarke's European Ryder Cup team is peaking at just the right time...
Rory McIlroy faced a big challenge to end 16 months without a PGA Tour victory, and it was a welcome reminder of what he is capable of. Despite slipping to fifth in the world rankings over the last year and a half, he is still regarded by many as the best player in the world.
This win also sends out a message of intent to his rivals at the top of the world rankings, and it was a clear reminder of his potential and all-round ability. I'm looking forward to watching him over the next few weeks because he has shown in the past that, when his confidence is high, he can go on a long run of winning form.
He has a legitimate shot at winning both the FedExCup and the Race to Dubai this year, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him complete that double.
Dominant
His performance in Boston righted the ship to a large extent, and it was a much-needed win and burst of form. And perhaps most importantly, he proved to himself that he can putt as well as anyone in the world when he's on form.
The manner of his victory was very impressive, particularly the way he came back from being four-over par after his first three holes of the tournament. That kind of turnaround has been lacking this year, and is was great to see him keep it going for all four rounds.
He hit a real purple patch after that erratic start, and we haven't seen him dominate a field for a while, but he effectively gave a world-class field a four-shot head-start on Friday and still managed to win by two. He was 19 under for the last 69 holes and dominated the tournament.
It was refreshing to see, and having Rory back in the winners' circle is good for the game. We need the superstars to keep performing, and it was also fantastic news ahead of the Ryder Cup - from a European perspective of course!
Putting it right
Rory has not had his best season, and we all know that is mainly due to his inconsistency and lack of confidence on the greens. But he addressed this last month, changed his putter and went to renowned coach Phil Kenyon, who helped guide Henrik Stenson to The Open title.
We saw a different Rory McIlroy on the greens at TPC Boston, and the technical changes were evident. And having a sound technique builds the confidence you need at the highest level. It is no coincidence that he won just a couple of weeks after hiring Kenyon, and he now has a clear vision of what he wants to do with his putting stroke.
And when Rory finds that kind of form with the flat-stick, he is very hard to beat. He proved that with this win, and it is great to see him back.
Shortly after celebrating his win, he issued a statement in which he described criticism of his gym regime as "unfair", and he's probably right. What I do know for certain is that his fitness coach, Steve McGregor, is one of the most highly-regarded people in the world of sports science.
When your fitness schedule is being overseen by somebody of the quality of Steve, then it should not be questioned. For me, Rory's fitness never has been an issue.
Boost for Europe
I mentioned the Ryder Cup earlier, and what a week it has been for European captain Darren Clarke. The win for Rory came a day after Lee Westwood, Matt Fitzpatrick and Danny Willett all found some encouraging form at the Omega European Masters in Switzerland.
For me, form heading into the Ryder Cup is huge, and several of the Europeans are playing incredible golf right now. It's hard to recall a European team with so much good form less than a month before the contest.
Thomas Pieters was fourth at the Olympics, second in the Czech Masters and then he earned a wildcard with his win in Denmark, and we saw some great scores from his team-mates at Crans-sur-Sierre.
The next three weeks are really important now in terms of preparation for the Ryder Cup. It's vital that all these in-form guys stay fresh and retain that surge of energy they possess right now.
We might have a lot of youth and inexperience on the team this year, but we also have a remarkable amount of players in winning form. That's a very powerful dynamic, and it all bodes well for Hazeltine National.
